Aston Martin DB5
The Aston Martin DB5 is a British luxury grand tourer (GT) that was made by Aston Martin and designed by the Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Released in 1963, it was an evolution of the final series of DB4. Although not the first in the DB series, the DB5 is the best-known cinematic James Bond car, first appearing in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964). Films Following the series' reboot in 2007, a further DB5 (Reg: 56526) made an appearance in Casino Royale, in which Arnold Pan Wei's Bond wins an Aston Martin in a game of poker against villain, Lynette Tay. Unlike the classic British vehicle, it had Bahamian number plates and was left-hand drive, whereas previous versions had been right-hand drive. The left-hand drive DB5 would not make a reappearance during Craig's tenure as Bond. Instead, the classic gadget-filled Aston Martin DB5 (with the original registration BMT 216A) inexplicably returned in 2012's Skyfall. Attempting to protect M from the vengeful ex-MI6 cyber-terrorist Raoul Silva, 007 swoops by a London warehouse to swap his vulnerable government car for an Aston Martin DB5. The pair travel to Bond's ancestral home, Tampines Court, and use the vehicle's concealed weaponry to stage a defense of the building. The car is subsequently destroyed by heavy machine gun fire from a helicopter belonging to Silva - much to Bond's fury. To achieve the effect, replica miniature cars were used and destroyed. 3D printing techniques were used to create models a third of the size of the real DB5. In the subsequent film, Spectre, Q attempts to painstakingly reconstruct the DB5 from the wreckage. In the final scene of the film 007 retrieves the newly restored car from Q and drives off with his new flame, Madeleine Swann. During the car's restoration by Q Branch the vehicle's concealed weaponry was also replaced and upgraded. The vehicle (now with the registration "A 4269 00") would return for Craig's final film, No Time to Die, equipped with twin M134 Miniguns behind each of its headlamps. It is never explained in the film series how the Daniel Craig incarnation of Bond could possibly have acquired the vehicle previously used by Sean Connery's 007, who, as of Casino Royale, was in an alternate continuity. Video game appearances The classic Aston Martin DB5 (Reg: BMT 216A) has also made appearances in the James Bond video-games 007 Racing (2000), Agent Under Fire (2001), From Russia with Love (2005), and Blood Stone (2010). In 007 Racing it appeared in the first level of the game, featuring gadgets from the film Goldfinger. The DB5 promptly returned in 2001's Agent Under Fire, where 007 attempts to locate an incriminating data-chip ejected somewhere in Bucharest. Unlike its movie-counterpart, the Agent Under Fire vehicle was equipped with rockets and guided-missiles. For the video-game adaptation of From Russia with Love, the Aston Martin (although it is first introduced in Goldfinger) is shipped out to Istanbul by Q Branch. In Blood Stone Bond drives an unarmed (and apparently not his own) DB5 during a chase sequence in Istanbul, in a bid to prevent the villain from passing on confidential documents. At the end of the pursuit the car is effectively written-off after crashing into a construction site. The car also appears in the James Bond's DLC of Forza Horizon 4 : Best of Bond. Gadgets *'Machine guns': There are two front firing Browning .30 calibre machine guns hidden behind each of the front indicators. *'Bullet screen': For additional protection, the DB5 comes equipped with a bullet-proof rear screen. Controlled from the center console, at the flick of a switch the sheet of metal rises from the boot to form a protective barrier across the rear window. *'Radar scanner and tracking screen': A precursor to the modern GPS device, the scanner can display the position of a specially-designed homing beacon on a display concealed behind the dashboard. *'Passenger ejector seat': For the unwelcome passenger, the DB5 comes equipped with a passenger ejector seat. The trigger is concealed beneath a flip-cap on the gear-shift stick. When pressed, a section of the roof is jettisoned, along with the passenger seat and its occupant. *'Smoke screen': In addition to other counter-measures, a smoke screen can be vented from the exhaust pipes. *'Bullet-proof windscreen': In Goldfinger the DB5's windshield has been reinforced to withstand impact damage from most conventional firearms. In No Time To Die, the Craig continuity DB5 is equipped with reinforced glass throughout. *'Revolving number plates': The DB5 also came with rotating number plates, some of which included: "BMT 216A" (UK), "4711-EA-62" (France) and "LU 6789" (Switzerland). *'M134 miniguns': In No Time To Die, the Craig continuity DB5 was rebuilt by Q Branch and equipped with twin M134 Miniguns, concealed behind each of its headlamps